Instructions for the Chiquita case
This is an unusually multifaceted case that will give us an opportunity to reflect back on our
entire course: transnational litigation, company law, transparency regulations, corporate
voluntarism, as well as what RtR might entail in a conflict zone.
In the class we will have a free discussion about
1. First, the Chiquita case
2. Second, the emerging ‘business & human rights’ regime (we draw on the Chiquita
case and on various aspects we covered during the entire course).
GROUP PREPARATION
1. Chiquita case
This case study requires preparation at home and group work before the class. You will split
into two groups. However, you will both read the same materials and prepare answers to the
same questions.
Your group will not be asked to make a presentation before the class (as in two of our
seminars) and you will not have to engage in role playing (as in the Nike case). Instead each
group is expected to contribute to the free discussion we will have around the tasks and
questions raised below.
Focus on the following task and questions:
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Create a rough timeline pinpointing major events and developments regarding
Chiquita’s activities in Columbia (this will help you not become overwhelmed by the
facts)
What was the company accused of? What were the wrongdoings?
What bodies of law have been used, and by whom, and in what country, to bring
Chiquita before the courts and hold it accountable for its involvement in atrocities?
Did Chiquita participate in any CSR initiatives?
Should have Chiquita remained silent instead of self-disclosing its involvement in
illegalities, just as its competitors remained silent? Imagine you work for Chiquita and
are well aware of your duties under company law to pursue the long term success of
the company with care and loyalty.
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Videos and readings
Begin by watching these 2 short videos
• Movie 1: The Price of Bananas, CBS 60 minutes, 2009 (13.00 min)
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5228111n&tag=related;photovideo
• Movie 2: People and Power - Chiquita: Between life and law, Al Jazeera, 2009 (24.00 min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONCTOiKT42U
Continue by reading these very short articles
• Pratap Chatterjee, Chiquita Banana To Face Colombia Torture Claim, CorpWatch
Blog, March 30th, 2012
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15697
• Chiquita Brands International Pleads Guilty to Making Payments to a Designated Terrorist
Organization And Agrees to Pay $25 Million Fine, MONDAY, MARCH 19,
2007, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/March/07_nsd_161.html
• Misty Dalke, In re Chiquita Brands: Court Preliminarily Approves Settlement
Agreement for Derivative Action, September 2010
http://www.theracetothebottom.com/chiquita/in-re-chiquita-brands-court-preliminarilyapproves-settlemen.html
• Erik Larson, Chiquita Settles Investor Suits Over Terror Payments, January 6, 2010
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ayT65YLVeJBs
• Dan Monk, ‘New report peels back layers on how, why Chiquita paid extortions to
Colombian terrorists,’ Business Courier of Cincinnati, April 24,
2009, http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/04/27/story1.html?page=1
• US appeals court says Colombians cannot sue Chiquita, BBC, 24 July
2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28469357
Have a quick look at this website
• Documents that Chiquita turned over to the U.S. Justice Department as part of the
sentencing deal (5,500 Pages of Chiquita Records)
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB340/index.htm
Read through the original suit against Columbia
• Doe v. Chiquita Brands International - Class Action Complaint for Damages, 18 Jul 2007,
filed in US District Court for the District of New
Jersey www.earthrights.org/sites/default/files/legal/cbi-final-complaint-signed.pdf
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2. Emerging ‘business & human rights’ regime
Against the background of the Chiquita case and drawing on the entire course materials we
can begin to reflect on the ‘polycentric governance’ that John Ruggie had in mind when he
designed the UNGPs. Companies are subjected to pressure and expectations from diverse
stakeholders. One thing leads to another (as the Chiquita case shows), what happens in one
arena leads to developments in other arenas, there are all kinds of interconnections in the
emerging ‘business & human rights’ regime.
The UNGPs are soft law and they have been unanimously endorsed by the UN HRC in 2011.
Focus on the following questions:
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Should Ruggie have continued the UN Draft Norms ambition for a treaty on business
and HR?
Is this the right time to start negotiating a treaty on ‘business & human rights as
Ecuador proposed to the UN in 2013 and the UN HRC decided in mid-2014 (see the
two resolutions below)? What are the arguments for and against starting negotiations
on a treaty now?
Could soft law like the UNGPs play a useful role in the emerging CSR regime; if yes,
why and how?
What are the legal and non-legal incentives for companies to improve their HR
performance?
Readings
Note: the following 4 readings replace the ‘obligatory readings’ in your list of readings.
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John Ruggie, Quo Vadis? Unsolicited Advice to Business and Human Rights Treaty
Sponsors, September 09, 2014 http://www.ihrb.org/commentary/quo-vadis-unsolicitedadvice-business.html
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UN HRC adopted in 2014 two resolutions on business & human rights. Read them.
One proposed by Norway was adopted by consensus, the other proposed by Ecuador
was narrowly adopted with significant opposition. Both resolutions are available
at http://business-humanrights.org/en/binding-treaty/un-human-rights-council-sessions
(links to both resolutions are in the second paragraph, just under the picture of the
voting screen)
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SRSG, Recommendations on Follow-Up to the Mandate, 11 February 2011 http://businesshumanrights.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/ruggie/ruggie-special-mandate-followup-11-feb-2011.pdf
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Christopher Albin-Lackey, Without Rules - A Failed Approach to Corporate
Accountability, Human Rights Watch, 2013 http://www.hrw.org/worldreport/2013/essays/112459
IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS
We start by drawing the timeline in the Chiquita case.
Free discussions starting with the Chiquita case and continuing with the ‘treaty debate’ taking
place nowadays.
We look back critically at the UNGPs and look forward at possible regulatory and policy
choices in the years to come.
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